Slowly but steadily the poisonous thought that Kashmir is an integral part of India is making the situation worse for not just India but for others in the region and internationally. In India itself, there is a growing realization that the present regime under PM Narendra Modi has gone too far in the wrong direction. Changing the status of Kashmir was a fault line capable of creating serious seismic repercussions. “If anyone wants milk we will give pudding/kheer but if anyone demands Kashmir we will tear him into pieces.”
What if the people of the valley are themselves not happy to remain as a part of India anymore? Whose Kashmir would they be demanding as their own, or of the pandits whom Governor Jagmohan Malhotra induced to migrate to Hindu majority parts elsewhere? By polarizing India PM Modi has brought about a calamity, not just upon himself but all the Indians. His cock of the walk behavior is totally absurd. His penchant for chorus sound echoing him is having an opium effect, but those who value critical thinking and have a modicum of rational outlook feel regretful.
Read more: Self mauling in the Subcontinent
Understanding the matter better
India had taken the Kashmir issue to the UNO General Assembly when Jawaharlal Nehru was the PM. If the UNO asked for a plebiscite why do we Indians feel uneasy about it now? In a situation like this it is the sober Organization of Islamic Countries that steps in and makes a case for Kashmir. “Reiterating its solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle for their rights including their right for self-determination, the General Secretariat urges the international community to ensure that the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris for the realization of their rights must not be equated with terrorism,” the OIC said in a statement.
“The General Secretariat calls on the Government of India to release all Kashmiri leaders unfairly incarcerated, halt forthwith the gross and systematic persecution of Kashmiris in the ‘Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)’; and respect the right of the people of IJK to determine their own future through a free and impartial plebiscite as enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” it added.
This is a time for a change! Let us not be willful and obstinate
If Nehru made a blunder in taking the issue to UNO let the matter end there. If Muslims in India have accepted the Babri mosque being demolished and a Ram Temple built over it why not let Kashmir be an autonomous state under the umbrella of the UNO! If it wishes to merge with Pakistan, why obstruct it by keeping the huge amount of money we spend on Kashmir even now when we have scrapped the special status of the valley.
Read more: How Modi escaped accountability for terrorism against Muslims
It was outrageous in the first place to have appointed Jagmohan at the recommendation of the RSS. A secular country has no reason to bend to an extremist communal paramilitary organization. It is having far-reaching significance. A child sitting on the shoulder of a father can be unacceptable during the Popular Front of India (PFI) in coastal Alappuzha (Kerala) last week shows that our democracy cannot hide with a fig leaf anymore that we have lost even the residual secular democracy that we inherited from the founders of our nation. Why do we look askance at our neighbor Pakistan?
Mustafa Khan holds a Ph.D. on Mark Twain. He lives in Malegaon Maharashtra, India. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.